Members ElectricPuppy Posted July 12, 2007 Members Share Posted July 12, 2007 I'm posting this as a cautionary tale to others thinking of buying from Musician's Friend. Bottom line: Don't believe their website if an item is claimed to be "in stock", because apparently that doesn't mean much of anything. I wanted to get a Standtastic 3-tier stand and a ReMOTE SL, so I checked Musician's Friend's website. They claimed to have them in stock, so I placed an order. I got immediate confirmation of my order via email. The next day, I get an email confirming shipment of only the Remote. No mention of the stand. A week later, the Remote appears on my doorstep. The next day, I get an email telling me that the stand is backordered and not due for a month. I'm in no real rush for it, so I let it ride. I'm a bit ticked that it took a whole week to find out that it's backordered, but these things happen. A month later (July 2), the status on my stand has changed to "Being packed", according to my order status on their website. Sure enough, the item is also shown to be "in-stock" again. I expect shipment confirmation Real Soon Now. As of Monday (July 9), my order status is still "being packed", and the item is "in-stock". I call and ask, "when will it ship?" I'm told that it's "in an inaccessible part of the warehouse", but they'll put a "must-ship" on it (this is necessary??) and it should ship within 2 days. Today, still no ship confirmation email, and the status is still "being packed". I call again and ask, again, will it ship soon? "Gosh, it's in the warehouse, but we're in the middle of moving, and guys are working overtime to get it done, blah, blah, blah, but I'll put a 'must ship' on it." Yeah, that's what the last guy told me, so will it ship today? "probably not." OK. Order canceled. I might normally overlook this, except that this isn't the first time it's happened. I ordered my PEK from them last August, when their site claimed to have them "in-stock". It took over a week and a phone call before they actually shipped it out, and I had ordered it with 2nd day shipping hoping to have it by the weekend. So: Just because Musician's Friend claims something's in stock doesn't really mean you have any real chance of getting it anytime soon. I'm unlikely to purchase anything from them again, either. /rant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthvince Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 Man they went downhill ever since 'Guitar Center' {yukk..} bought 'em out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkShovel2 Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 Well, I usually pay extra for next day shipping. Usually a +$30US adder to the total cost. They take 24 hours to verify my bank debit card, even thought the money has been deducted from my account. So, I pay for overnight shipping and get 2 to 3 day delivery. That is total bull{censored}. So, I tried ordering from Guitar Center Online. They charged me 7% sales tax even though my state is a 5% sales tax. They charge sales tax because they have stores in my state. They could at least charge me the correct value. Nova Muzik is my friend. Mark(soon to be banned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Conway Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I'm posting this as a cautionary tale to others thinking of buying from Musician's Friend. Bottom line: Don't believe their website if an item is claimed to be "in stock", because apparently that doesn't mean much of anything. I've had good luck with them in the past. Currently, the Virus TI Keyboard, that I ordered on May 27th and was listed in stock on the webpage, is still on backorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheJesus Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I've ordered many many times from MF without any problems at all. Perhaps them just switching warehouses has led to a bit of confusion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Conway Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I've ordered many many times from MF without any problems at all. Perhaps them just switching warehouses has led to a bit of confusion? Could be. I have ordered multiple times from them, with no problem. However, I just got another "delay" email. 3 months for my TI is a long time! It's probably Access' fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members idiotboy Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I have my own theory about this. The issue is not Musician's Friend. It's the stand. I've had the worst kind of trouble buying stands and racks via internet retailers. They are always "out-of-stock" or "in transit", or some such nonsense, regardless of the retailer. I believe there's an evil, international, synth-accessories cartel somewhere, controlling the production and distribution of these items, to meet their own fiendish plans. No, I'm OK. Really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eleventeen43 Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I would say that this is the typical musicians friend. The service is poor. They never will help you out once you have ordered. Same with guitar center. Its crazy that this thread is still on because i posted one on how much i hate them and it got deleted or blocked. Never worried about telling my story since. but thats how it goes. There like wal mart somewhat. Accept the service sucks but the prices are so low you cant help but by from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I have my own theory about this. The issue is not Musician's Friend. It's the stand. I've had the worst kind of trouble buying stands and racks via internet retailers. They are always "out-of-stock" or "in transit", or some such nonsense, regardless of the retailer. +10000. I've purchased dozens of Items from Musicians Friend, with excellent service - the only 2 delays I've had with them were on a 3 tier OnStage stand, and a Warwick 5 way guitar stand. I recall hearing of an Italian stand mfg'r that was having problems getting their product J.I.T. shipped to distributors - supply chains can get complex, when you have JIT.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 The service is poor. My experience says otherwise. They never will help you out once you have ordered. Same with guitar center. Accept the service sucks but the prices are so low you cant help but by from them. Sometimes things get delayed - that is a fact of life. What steps did you take to attempt to resolve the situation (whatever it may be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mytee2.0 Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I bought a few cheapo racks from them, I would never buy anything that cost more like $150 from these criminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eleventeen43 Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I would say this is a typical ignorant, slanderous comment. No offense, but about all you've done is say "they suck" and have provided no details.Wonder why your thread was deleted?My experience says otherwise.Sometimes things get delayed - that is a fact of life. What steps did you take to attempt to resolve the situation (whatever it may be). Hmm wonder why the thread was deleted. i actually went into detail about what happened and my actions about it. Trust me this happens all the tiem and congratulations on having the best service ever. But it wasnt about delayed. I bought a gretsch and it didnt have any paperwork. They told me to calll gretsch about it. But i feel that if you purchased it from MF then they shoudl be responsible. So as far as i know it wasnt an ignorant statement. I had a reason for what i said. I find it hard to believe people just state things just for the hell of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jchas Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 I've only bought once from them and it didn't go very well. Not bad enough that I wouldn't try it again I suppose, I just prefer to buy locally even if it costs a few bucks more. A few years ago I needed a mandolin for a recording I was doing for a friend.Since I wasn't intending on becoming a professional 'mandolinist' and therefor didn't need a high-quality, I figured i'd check out a mail order store for a deal.They were running a special (not time sensitive or liquidation) on a classical guitar and mandolin set for $125. 3 days later the box arrives. There wasn't a scratch or a dent in it, but it did appear MF had re-sealed both the inside and outside boxes with additional tape.I pulled out the mandolin box, opened it up, and there's a beautifull (albeit cheap) sunburst electric mandolin just like the picture. It played nice, held it's tune, sounded pretty good, and seemed like a great value.Next I pulled the guitar box from the larger box. No dents etc. Opened it up and there was the guitar - except it was folded in half, something that seemed to be impossible to have happened without being put into the box that way. The MF customer service person seemed very helpfull. He wanted to list it as 'damaged in transit' but I told him it didn't seem to be. He gave me a return authorization but I asked if I could keep the mandolin which I liked , and return the guitar for another one. Nope - they are sold as sets and had to be exchanged for sets. So I package it up, send it back, and see it got there a few days later. Then I don't hear from them for a couple weeks. I e-mail and get the 'order being processed' response. A week later I try again - and again my order is being processed. The same thing happens over the next couple weeks so I call the customer service dude. He replies that it is in fact being processed. I ask why the first one was shipped immediately and this one hasn't been shipped for over a month. He offers to look into it. I call again the next day to find that they no longer sell that product. I ask them to send me back the original package. It's been sent back to the manufacturer. Then he tells me they have the same mandolin available as a seperate item. Since I need to get this recording done soon and really didn't need a cheap guitar anyway I tell him OK. "So i'll need to charge the balance to your credit card" he says. "You mean credit my account don't you" I say.No, the seperate mandolin is $169. So not only am I out a guitar I payed for, had to deal with all the hassles and waiting, but I get to pay $45 more for the mandolin. Screw it - cancel my order - credit my card account. OK, but it'll take up to 60 days for you to see it on your account. It did take the full 60 days too. So add to that the month I had been waiting, and I got to pay 3-months of interest for nothing...I ended up with a really nice instrument though. I got it from InstrumentAlley and they were great to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EerieDreamZ Posted July 13, 2007 Members Share Posted July 13, 2007 Its been about 6 years since I last ordered from Musician's friend and all 3 of my experiences with them were really good. I bought software, guitar accessories, and some other small stuff. All of it shipped on time, with no hassles, and good customer service. Now, that WAS 6 years ago. I haven't ordered from them since so perhaps something has happened to change things. I can't truly say. Based on what I've been reading around here lately it doesn't "look" good, but I would order from them on the off chance it might be random happenings. Recently i have been ordering from Sweetwater and I just LIKE them a lot more. Their prices are good, their customer service should be a model for so many other companies that have long forgotten what that word means. In fact when I ordered my copy of the Korg Legacy collection they got it to me via fedex in under 10 hours. Now THAT is some fast stuff! My two cents, of course, YOU'RE mileage may vary Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Its crazy that this thread is still on because i posted one on how much i hate them and it got deleted or blocked. I do not think it was deleted solely because of what you said; HOW did you say it and how negative a thread -all kinds of threads- becomes with attacks to others, bashing and all kinds of "hate fests" could have been the entire difference. This one, as an example, makes a lot of sense. I complained about the very same not a long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted July 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 16, 2007 I went back to check on my account at MF today just to see what the status was on the stand that I explicitly told them to cancel. The status is now "backordered". Man oh man. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it suddenly showed up on my doorstep in the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WhinyLittleRunt Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it suddenly showed up on my doorstep in the next few weeks. Yeah, and then they'll charge you for it I've never had any issues with Musician's Friend yet. I buy stuff from them here and there, but when I do I always call up and make sure what i'm ordering is really in stock, and ask them to check. When they say they can't physically go into the warehouse, I just politely ask for their name and tell them that I hold it to them that the product is in stock. I'm sure this doesn't mean {censored} to the rep but it still gets my point across. I'm sure their tracking system is a little more updated than the website as to what's in or backordered. I could also be wrong, but my luck has been good. I ordered an A-Frame stand from them too - they had a {censored} selection to begin with and I was glad they even had an A-Frame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinHines Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 For the most part I haven't had any troubles. I did order a "new" stand from them once that had obviously been abused and returned (scratches all over the stand, missing part). After complaining they did send me a new one, but that was my first experience with the "dark side" of their 30-day money back return policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members midi Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 You should've ordered it here: http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-NOV-REMOTE61SL.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted July 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 Thanks Midi, but I actually got the SL quickly without problems. Its a stand I'm trying to get that's giving me hassles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 Generally, I don't buy from the big Internet stores. Contrary to what some people think, getting the MAP price isn't all that great from a buyers standpoint. There are SOME products that the MAP price leaves a LOT of profit for the box movers. Primarily, that's the problem. I don't like paying middle men that don't know anything, don't service anything, and aren't truthful. So I don't buy from them. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rabid Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 I say their prices on the Standtastic stands two months ago and bought a 3-tier and a 2-tier. At the time I was thinking that it looked like close out pricing for an item they don't plan to carry any more. Mine came in within a week. If I had it to do over I would have bought 2 x 2-tier stands and an extra set of arms. The 3-tier is really too tall for my needs. I like to have my bottom keyboard at standar piano height and the 2-tier is plenty tall enough to hold three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonnythesaint Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 I bought a PA system and a gig bag, they both came very quickly and without problem. my brother tried to order me a harmonica holder-so you can play and sing-it said it was in stock, then they said it was back ordered......after 2 months, I told him to cancel and I'd just go to a damn music store and buy the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted July 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 In the interest of fairness, I'll report an update: I've been contacted by an MF representative regarding my plight, and amends are being made. I hope to see my stand in the near future. If it pans out, then I may continue to use MF in the future after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members akliner Posted July 17, 2007 Members Share Posted July 17, 2007 Damn...they must have thrown you in the back of a van and threatened you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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